Cigarette making appliance

ABSTRACT

A device for filling a tube of cigarette paper with tobacco to make a cigarette including a casing, a slide, a chamber for tobacco formed in the slide, a nozzle mounted on the slide and communicating with the chamber, a clamp for holding the tube of paper on the nozzle, compression means mounted on the slide wherein tobacco in the chamber can be compressed into a plug by the compression means, and by manually pushing on the slide portion to reduce the chamber capacity, the plug is forced through the nozzle into the tube of cigarette paper thus forming a cigarette. The compression means is provided with a locking component cooperable with the slide to hold the compression means in a compressing position.

United States Patent [191 'Meinunger 1 June 26, 1973 [54]CIGARETTE-MAKING APPLIANCE 211,462 7/1909 Germany 131/70 [75] Inventor:Helmut Meinunger, Radevormwald,

Germany Primary Exammer-Robert W. Michell [73] A G h w k G b H AssistantExaminer-John F. Pitrelli sslgnee: r w Attorne Ho1man & SternBergneustadt/Rhineland, Germany y [22] Filed: Mar. 2, 1971 57 ABSTRACT[21] Appl. N0.: 120,196 A device for filling a tube of cigarette paperwith tobacco to make a cigarette including a casing, a slide, a chamberfor tobacco formed in the slide, a nozzle [30] Forelgn Apphcamm PnontyData mounted on the slide and communicating with the Mar. 2, 1970Germany P 20 09 678.0 chamber a clamp for the tube of p p on the nozzle,compression means mounted on the slide 52 U.S. Cll. Xi; lag/1(2) whereintobacco in the chamber can be compressed [51] hat- .f 1c into a thecompression and manually Fleld 0 Search 5 p i on the slide portion toreduce the chamber g h 1 f d h h h 1 h pacity, t e p ug 1s orce t roug te nozz e into t e [56] References cued tube of cigarette paper thusforming a.cigarette. The

UNITED STATES PATENTS compression means is provided with a lockingcompo- 2,329,l63 9/1943 Reid et a1. 131/70 nent cooperable with theslide to hold the compression FOREIGN PATENTS 0R APPLICATIONS means ampressmg 456,477 6/1913 France 131/70 3 Claims, 8 Drawing FiguresPATENTEDmzs um 3.741.220

saw 2 or 2 35 INVENTOR HELMUT MEIHUNGER A777! u: rs

CIGARETTE-MAKING APPLIANCE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The inventionrelates to an appliance for filling prefabricated cigarette paper tubes,in which a compression plate for the tobacco, a hollow nozzle suitablefor pushing a cigarette paper tube on it and a clamping device withclamping piece for retaining the tube on the nozzle are arranged on aslide operated directly by hand.

The object of the invention is to improve a device of this nature and toprovide further features. This is in particular applicable to the partsused for clamping the cigarette paper tube on the hollow nozzle and theoperating means for these parts and the parts connected to the latter.The invention also tries to achieve easier and more convenient operationof the appliance and to simplify it and to improve its operationalreliability.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Starting off from the arrangementof the device mentioned in the introduction, the invention consists inthat the compression plate in its working position, when it is pusheddown, and when it has formed the plug of tobacco ready for insertion inthe prefabricated cigarette paper tube, is capable of being detachablyfixed to the slide by parts engaging with each other.

This ensures that the compression plate is kept satisfactorily in itsright position, even during the actual filling process, that is to say,when the paper tube is being pulled over the plug of tobacco by means ofthe slide, irrespective of the pressure exerted during this opera tionon the compression plate. If the appliance is de signed so that thecompression plate not only forms the plug of tobacco but at the sametime also pushes the clamping piece against the hollow nozzle with thepaper tube on it, in order to retain the latter in position, thisretention of the compression plate on the slide also ensures that thepaper tube remains fixed on the hollow nozzle during the entire motionof the slide and cannot slide off or shift.

The parts for the detachable fixing could be, for instance, springyparts snapping in position, with a locking action capable of beingsubsequently released by moving back the part or by pushing a detent.This can be achieved, for instance, by means of latches or similardetents of a simple type.

A particularly convenient design consists also in that a locking piececapable of relative displacement with respect to the compression plateis provided on the latter and has at least one locking element capableof engaging with the slide. A slidable locking piece of this type iseasy to make, it can be readily fixed on the compression plate and isparticularly advantageous for the operation of the device. The directionof displacement of the locking piece can be selected so as to behorizontal or vertical, transverse to the longitudinal direction of thecompression plate. However, particularly convenient is an arrangementwhere the locking piece is displaceable in the longitudinal direction ofthe compression plate. It is convenient to arrange the locking piece sothat it is under the action of a spring tending to retain it in its restposition, where it is released from the slide. Some other elasticelement may be used instead of a spring.

When using a displaceable locking piece, the appliance can be arrangedin particular so that the slide has recesses on its face, to engage withlugs, projections or the like on the locking piece. This is particularlyconvenient in the production of the appliance and makes for a neatarrangement and easy accessibility of the components.

In an especially advantageous form of the appliance, locking faces areprovided on the locking piece and on the slide so as to engage with eachother; they are inclined with respect to the plane of displacement ofthe locking piece. In this way the compression plate is pulled upagainst the slide by the wedge action of the locking faces, on operationof the locking piece, this wedge action being a very convenient featurein particular also from the point of view of the proper formation of theplug of tobacco.

In order to facilitate the operation of the appliance when using adisplaceable locking piece, it is convenient to provide opposing noseson the compression plate and on the locking piece, so that the operatorsfinger can engagewith them.

According to a further feature of the invention there is an elasticallydeformable clamping piece accommodated in a recess of the slide, inorder to retain the empty cigarette paper tube on the hollow nozzle ofthe slide. The elasticity of the clamping piece provides theadvantage-that the paper tube is kept safely on the nozzle even if theheight of the operating part of the clamping piece, for instance, a lugon the compression plate or thelike, has slightly changed. Also, duringthe motion of the operating piece for the clamping piece, the paper tubeis held against the hollow nozzle at an early stage, earlier than with arigid clamping piece, and this is also an advantageous feature.Furthermore, the elasticity of the clamping piece ensures that it gentlyengages thepaper tube so as to completely avoid damage of the tube orimpairing its appearance.

The elastic clamping piece has conveniently also a recess on its endfacing the nozzle. The recess may be shaped to suit the shape of thenozzle. However, it can be arranged in particular also so that theclamping piece contacts the cigarette paper tube only along the edges ofthe recess so that the latter is clamped at several points.

The clamping piece may have lateral wings at its end facing the hollownozzle, the wings engaging with recesses in the slide. This ensures thatthe clamping piece.

is held in a simple manner. This arrangement may also be of advantage inconnection with the aforementioned recesses for achieving a clampingaction at several points. In particular, the arrangement can be designedfor this purposeso that the recesses in the slide have inclined limitingfaces, in a downward direction and towards the center of the slide. Thewings of the clamping piece then make contact with these faces duringthe clamping process.

Grooves may be provided either in the clamping piece or in the slide,lugs of the other part engaging with the grooves.

Further details and features of the invention will be explained belowwith reference to the drawing, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view in longitudinalsection through the appliance with the compression plate partly raisedand being shown in side elevation,

FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line II II in FIG. 1, with thecompression plate lowered,

FIGS. 3 and 4 are fragmentary views of the front end of the slide and ofthe compression plate with the locking means,

FIG. 5 is afront view of the appliance with the compression plate loose,but without the locking piece displaceable on the latter,

FIG. 6 is a front view corresponding to FIG. 5, with the compressionplate pushed down,

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the front end of the slide, with thecompression plate folded back, and FIG. 8 is a view partly in sideelevation and partly in section showing the position of the slide whenmoved to form a cigarette.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A slide 33 is arranged in a casing31 with a base plate 32. Lateral guide strips 33a (FIG. 2) of the slide33 slide in corresponding longitudinal grooves 31a of the casing 31. Ahollow nozzle 34 is arranged on the front side, the left side in FIG. 1,of the slide 33. The hollow nozzle 34 is pressed into the slide, or madeby bending the slide material, or formed on it during the casting orinjection molding process, and a cigarette paper tube 35 is pushed onthe hollow nozzle.

At the end of the slide 33 opposite that with the hollow nozzle ,34, atobacco compression plate 37 is hinged thereto by means of a hinge pin36. The compression plate 37 has a pressure piece 37a engaging with anelongated recess 38 of the slide 33 when the compression plate is pusheddown, with the recess 38 forming a tobacco chamber. The pressure piece37a forms in this way tobacco 39 in the chamber into a round plug 39a(FIG. 2). A gutter-shaped guide tongue 42 is fixed in casing 31 by meansof a pin 40 and a holding piece 41, serving at the same time as a stopfor the tobacco plug 39a. The tobacco chamber 38 is limited at its rearend by a cover angle 43 formed by the slide 33 and covering in theinitial position of the slide also the holding piece 41 (FIG. 1).

With this appliance, the cigarette is made so that first, after an emptycigarette paper tube 35 has been pushed on the hollow nozzle 34 and thetobacco 39 has been placed in the tobacco chamber 38, the compressionplate 37 is moved down. The tobacco is now compressed between the guidetongue 42 and a semicircular. recess on the underside of the pressurepiece 37a to form the plug 39a, as shown in FIG. 2. The slide 33 in thecasing 31 is now moved to the right (FIG. 8) and the tube 35 taken withit is pulled overthe tobacco plug 39a, with the guide tongue 42 ensuringthat the tobacco is properly inserted in the paper tube.

In order to retain the cigarette paper tube 35 safely on the hollownozzle 34 during this filling process, a clamping device is provided.This clamping device has, in the advantageous embodiment shown herein aclamping piece 44 of an elastic material, such as rubher. As shown inparticular in FIGS. 5 to 7, this clamping piece 44 is accommodated in arecess 45 at the front end of slide 33, with lateral retaining andguiding lugs 46 of the clamping piece 44 engaging with grooves 47. Theclamping piece 44 has, at its end facing the hollow nozzle 34, a recess48 and two laterally projecting wings 49, engaging in recesses 50 of theslide 33. Lower limiting faces 50a of the recesses 50 are inclineddownwardly and towards the center of the slide. A pressure piece 51formed at the front end of the compression plate 37 is used foroperating the clamping piece 44.

FIG. 5 shows the clamping piece 44 in the released rest position, whileFIG. 6 shows its working position, the clamping piece 44 being pusheddown by the pressure piece 51 and deformed so that it fixes thecigarette paper tube 35 at two points on the hollow nozzle 34. The wings49 now rest on the lower limiting faces 50a of the recesses 50. When thecompression plate 37 is moved back, the clamping piece 44 is secured byits shape, and by the fact that it is accommodated in the slide, againstdropping out.

The appliance shown herein is also equipped with a stop or lockingdevice enabling the compression plate 37 to be detachably fixed, in itspushed-down position,

to the slide 33. For this purpose, the front end of the or fixed in someother way therein are used to limit the motion of the locking piece 54.

The lower part of the locking piece 54 is saddle shaped so that there isa central free passage for the cig arette paper tube 35. Downwardpointing legs 56 forming the lateral boundaries of this passage (FIGS.1, 3, 4) have projections 57 pointing towards the front face ofthe'slide 33 and engaging, during the displacement of the locking piece54, in recesses 58 of the front face of the slide, as shown in FIG. 4,so as to retain the compression plate 37 against the slide 33. I

'In the advantageous embodiment shown, inclined locking faces 59 areprovided on the projections 57 of the locking piece 54 and the recesses58 of the slide33. These locking faces 59 ensure that the compressionplate 37 is pulled automatically against the slide 33 by the wedgeaction of these faces, when the locking piece 54 is moved in thedirection of the arrow in FIG. 3.

Upwardly pointing noses 60 and 61, each on one of the front ends of thecompression plate 37 and of the locking piece 54 permit the appliance tobe operated conveniently and in a practical manner, not only during thelocking but also during the subsequent motion of the slide in order toperform the filling operation. At

the end of the slide motion, which may be limited by a stop on thecasing, the cigarette paper tube is filled with tobacco. It is then onlynecessary-to push the slide 33 back into its initial position, in theopposite direction. After the noses 60 and 61 have been released and inthis way also the clamping action has been removed by the clamping piece44 returning to its rest position on account of its elasticity (FIG. 5),the finished cigarette can be immediately taken off the hollow nozzle34.

The casing parts of the device, the slide, the compression plate and thelocking piece are advantageously made of plastic.

All features mentioned in the above specification and/or shown in thedrawing can be regarded independently or in combination as parts of theinvention to the extent that this is permitted by the known state of theart.

I claim: I

1. A device for filling a tube of cigarette paper with tobacco to make acigarette, comprising a casing, a slide carried by the casing, a chamberfor tobacco provided in the slide, a nozzle mounted on the slide andwhich communicates with the chamber, clamp means for holding a tube ofpaper on the nozzle, compression means pivotally mounted on the slide atthe end of the slide opposite the nozzle whereby tobacco in the chambercan be compressed into the plug by the compression means, and bymanually pushing on the slide portion so as to reduce the chambercapacity, the plug is forced through the nozzle into the tube ofcigarette paper, thus forming a cigarette, a locking element provided onthe compression means at its end opposite its pivotal mounting on theslide and the slide having means cooperable with the locking element tohold the compression means in a compressing position, said lockingelement including a pair of spaced apart depending legs and a projectionat the free end of each leg extending towards the slide, and the meanson the slide is automatically pulled against the slide by the wedgeaction of such face and wall.

3. The device as claimed in claim 1 in which the clamp means includes anelastically deformable clamping piece located in a recess provided inthe slide and lateral retaining and guiding lugs on the clamping pieceengaging with grooves in the slide.

1. A device for filling a tube of cigarette paper with tobacco to make acigarette, comprising a casing, a slide carried by the casing, a chamberfor tobacco provided in the slide, a nozzle mounted on the slide andwhich communicates with the chamber, clamp means for holding a tube ofpaper on the nozzle, compression means pivotally mounted on the slide atthe end of the slide opposite the nozzle whereby tobacco in the chambercan be compressed into the plug by the compression means, and bymanually pushing on the slide portion so as to reduce the chambercapacity, the plug is forced through the nozzle into the tube ofcigarette paper, thus forming a cigarette, a locking element provided onthe compression means at its end opposite its pivotal mounting on theslide and the slide having means cooperable with the locking element tohold the compression means in a compressing position, said lockingelement including a pair of spaced apart depending legs and a projectionat the free end of each leg extending towards the slide, and the meanson the slide cooperable with the locked element being defined by a pairof recesses in the slide for receiving the projections.
 2. The device asclaimed in claim 1 in which each projection has an upper inclined faceand each recess an upper inclined wall so that the compression means isautomatically pulled against the slide by the wedge action of such faceand wall.
 3. The device as claimed in claim 1 in which the clamp meansincludes an elastically deformable clamping piece located In a recessprovided in the slide and lateral retaining and guiding lugs on theclamping piece engaging with grooves in the slide.